Ronda Rousey: Gina Carano is worst style matchup for me

Most fans, pundits and observers feel like Gina Carano would hardly present a challenge to Ronda Rousey were the two to meet in the octagon. Rousey feels otherwise.

There has been a lot of talk about the two women squaring off against each other in a fight even though Carano hasn’t fought since 2009 and isn’t even part of the UFC. UFC boss Dana White is working on signing Carano, who is said to have interest in fighting.

“Gina is the worst style matchup for me possible,” Rousey told MMAjunkie. “She’s the only girl that I feel like has the best feeling and the best sense of distance.

“There are very few women that have had one-punch knockout power. There are other girls that they overwhelm the other person. They get TKOs and stuff like that. But Gina has one-punch knockout power, and that’s the kind of person that I have to be the most cautious of. That’s the style that’s the worst for me, and ever since the beginning, I’ve been positive that Gina is the worst style matchup for me.”

Well, when you put it that way, anyone who has one-punch knockout power poses a threat as an opponent. But as much as Rousey has been dominating and as long as Carano has been out of the game, the chance of Gina landing against Rousey is very small.

Rousey also has her eye on the UFC 182 card on Jan. 3. She says she wants to co-headline with Jon Jones, who will be facing Daniel Cormier on that card. White initially said they would fight in December if Carano signed with the organization, but that was over a month ago.

Is that because Carano would need more time to prepare for the fight? Rousey believes Gina already is ready.

“She’s already been training for months and months and months. I think she’s already started quite a while ago, and she only has me in mind, and so I expect that she’s going to be extremely prepared and a very dangerous opponent despite what other people would like to speculate.”

Even if Carano has been training — and we agree she probably has — training and fighting are two different things. Carano hasn’t had a fight in five years. Ring rust is a legitimate issue. Carano will definitely be battling that if she does agree to fight Rousey.